


My World - My Family

by Lady_Zephyrine



Series: My World [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Backstory, Brotherly Love, Dadster, Gen, Headcanon, No Romance, Papyrus-centric, Rewrite, Spoilers - Undertale Pacifist Route, Takes place years before Frisk falls into the Underground, Undertale Spoilers, Young Papyrus, Young Sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-10-22 08:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10693419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Zephyrine/pseuds/Lady_Zephyrine
Summary: Papyrus has always been curious, given the scientific background his father has. But as they say, curiosity killed the cat.((Rewritten version of "My Family". At least the first part of it.))





	1. My Family pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So as much as I liked how "My family" has turned out, I couldn't help but feel that it's a little rushed. That and I think that the other characters could use a little more attention (Like Sans, since he's supposed to be the deuteragonist). Plus, I think one of my OCs could be a little more fleshed out. The first chapter won't be that different, but the second chapter certainly will!
> 
> But all that aside, I won't be deleting the original story. But hopefully, I can get through this one without rushing (since I clearly don't have a Light Blue Soul). Also, let me know if there are any spelling errors, because they're all so easy to miss! Also...Papyrus speaks in bold, Sans speaks in italics, and Gaster speaks in ha...underlines

School had just ended, it was finally the weekend. The streets of New Home were filled with playful children who were ready to go off on their own adventures. Among this group of children were a pair of young skeletons, who were no older than 8. The younger sibling wore a yellow sweater with orange stripes, his hands were hidden underneath a pair of red mittens that matched his tattered scarf. As he walked, he carried a pink rabbit doll up to his chest. In front of him was his older sibling, he wore a long, over-sized sweater that reached down to his boots. The elder sibling kept one one long sleeve over his chest while his brother held onto the other. He also had cracks on his skull, which were covered by bandages.

The younger sibling, Papyrus, was doing his best to keep up with his brother. For such a fragile being, he could walk pretty fast.

**"Hey, Sans?"**

_"hm?"_ Papyrus' brother looked at him with large eye sockets. Unlike Papyrus, Sans actually had white pupils in his eyes. _“what’s up?”_

**“How much longer until we get home?"**

_“it shouldn’t be long, now,”_ Sans replied. _“But, um...do you think dad’ll be home, this time?”_

**“Probably,”** Papyrus replied, **“though you never know with dad, he could be working all night again.”**

_“yeah, but i kinda wish that he’d take us to the lab. it’d be better than sitting around doing nothing, right?”_

**“Right!”** Papyrus replied. **“Though...maybe today, he’ll come home with spider donuts like he usually does!”**

Sans nodded in response. _"and just think...one day, you'll be a royal guardsman, i'll be the royal scientist, and we'll be able hang out with dad as much as we want. we could even go all over the underground. doesn't that sound cool?"_

  
**"Of course it does! "** Papyrus replied, he looked down at his stuffed rabbit. **"What do you think, Fluffy Bunny?** _"pap, you realize he's just a toy, right?"_

**"I know he's a toy,"** Papyrus argued, **"It doesn't mean he can't talk."**

Sans gave his brother a weird look. _"um...whatever you say, bro..."_

As the brothers came back to their apartment, they saw a note hanging on their door. Sans took the note off the door and began to read it. He groaned, his pupils rolled into his eye sockets.

**"Dad's not home, is he?"**

_"nope!"_ Sans crumpled the note and threw it over his shoulder. _"it's just the two of us, again!"_

**"Well, what should we do?"** Papyrus asked. Sans shrugged, _"i dunno...what do you wanna do?"_

  
**"Hm..."** Papyrus placed a hand over his jaw. **"Maybe we could go to the park? That's always fun!"**

_"sure!"_ Sans gave Papyrus his sleeve to hold onto. _"lead the way."_

Papyrus nodded as he started to lead his brother out of the apartment building. While their father had been very busy as of late, he and Sans were more than capable of taking care of each other. Besides, they were fine as long as they got back before it was night time. They were told that sleazy monsters liked to come out during night, so they had to make sure they were careful if they stayed for too long.

 

...But they'll be fine, right?

 

* * *

 

 

It was late afternoon, there were still some kids playing on the playground. Most of them were older than either of the brothers, and the ones that weren’t would usually cling to their older siblings like a stuffed animal.

Sans made his way over to the swing set while Papyrus sat down near a tree, he started petting his stuffed rabbit. He watched most of the kids around him play tag (also called “Monsters and Humans”). He would join them, but he had to admit...he wasn't the greatest when it came to making friends. Of course, that’ll change once he becomes a member of the Royal Guard. And by then, he will be bathed in a shower of kisses every morning. If only Captain Gerson allowed children into the Royal Guard.

Papyrus lifted Fluffy Bunny up to his eye level, speaking in an unusually quiet tone. **"Well, at least I have you and Sans to hang out with."**

He let go of Fluffy Bunny, he was surrounded in a blue-ish hue. Papyrus hadn't known how to use magic for very long, but he was always careful with it. The last thing he wanted was to hurt someone by accident with it.

_"somethin' wrong?"_

Papyrus looked over at his side, Sans was standing over him, his pupils were as big and bright as a pair of light bulbs. Papyrus shook his head as Fluffy Bunny dropped back into his arms. **"No, why?"**

_"i just thought you looked lonely, that's all."_

**"Well, that's because we're not very popular, yet!"** Papyrus argued, **"Trust me, Sans...once we're popular, we'll be friends with EVERYONE down here!"**

_"hm..."_ Sans closed his eyes and started rubbing his jaw with a sleeved hand, which gave Papyrus bad vibes. **"Sans, what are you doing!?"**

Sans continued to hum impatiently, causing Papyrus' bones to rattle. **"I'm serious, Sans...this better not be one of your tricks!"**

Suddenly, Sans began calling out to the other kids. _"HEY, CAN WE PLAY!? MY BROTHER REALLY NEED SOME FRIENDS RIGHT NOW!!!"_

**"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"** Papyrus yelled, dropping Fluffy Bunny and placing a hand over his brother's mouth, **"You're embarrassing me!"**

_"i'm your brother, i'm s'pose to embarrass you!"_

**"SANS!"**

The other monster children watched as the two brothers continued to bicker. The smallest monster, a Whimsun, fluttered meekly at the two. He nervously pressed his fingers together as he looked at Sans. "E-excuse me."

Sans turned his skull, he looked at the monster with a curious gaze.

"Y-you're Comic Sans, right?"

Sans tilted his head. _"yeah, why?"_

"Well..." The Whimsun looked away bashfully, "Um...I'm not sure how to say this, but...aren't you a bit-"

_"frail?"_

"Er..." The Whimsun shook nervously, "Y-yes...I mean, no offense but we really don't want to hurt you or anything."

_"then why don't you play with my brother? he’s got a lot more...BACKBONE than i do!"_

**"Sans, you're not making things any better!"** Papyrus grumbled. Sans lowered his eyelids. _"well? you were the one who wanted to make friends!"_

"Psh...and who'd be friends with these numbskulls?"

The monster children stood stiffly as a pair of new monsters came into the park. One of them was an Astigmatism, an eye monster with a long striped scarf around her body. The other monster was an orange dragon with a striped purple shirt, he appeared to be missing a tooth.

"Let's face it," said the dragon, "One's too loud and the other one’s made of glass!"

_“I AM NOT!”_ Sans yelled angrily. He tried to lash out at Ricky, but Papyrus held onto his waist. The younger brother gave Ricky a stern look, **“Look, you can make fun of me all you want, but it’s rude to make fun of my brother’s condition!”**

 "He’s right, you know," said the Astigmatism, Sclara. Ricky replied with a shrug. “Eh, whatever! Brittles could fall off a table and break every single bone on him for all I care! I mean...isn’t that how he got those cracks on his skull?”

**“I said STOP!”** Papyrus said sternly.

“Or else what?” Ricky asked with a sly smile, “Are you gonna tell your dad on us?”

Papyrus began to back away, “W-well I...”

"''Ey, Ricky!"

Ricky looked down at Sclara, who was tapping her foot impatiently. "Don't forget, we've got other fun monsters to play with!"

"Don't worry, I'm just gonna mess with these guys for a little bit...starting with Rattles!"

Papyrus grabbed Fluffy Bunny while he tried to walk away. He also tried to carry Sans (despite being the same height). However, he was stopped as Ricky placed a claw on his scarf. "Where do you think you're going?"

**"U-um..."** Papyrus dropped Sans onto the ground, who landed painfully on his tailbone. **"Do we really need to fight? I mean...You don't have to act like a jerk ALL the time."**

"Cut the bull crap, already!" Ricky's soul began to glow, as did Papyrus'. “You and I are gonna have some fun, so you'd better start runnin'!”

Papyrus panicked, he threw Sans over his shoulder and started running.

_"pap, whaddaya doin'!?”_

**"Saving our tail bones, that's what!"**

Ricky began to summon fireballs around his head as he started chasing the twin skeletons. Sans started to scream as one of them headed straight for them. Papyrus jumped, the flame barely brushed past his leg.

Ricky started chasing them out of the park, throwing more and more fireballs at them. As this continued, Sans kept yelling out different directions. _"RIGHT! NO LEFT! NOT YOUR LEFT, MY LEFT!"_

**"Huff...huff..."** Papyrus followed his brother's directions as he avoided getting hit. **"Gees, brother...you're louder then usual..."**

_"well...hopefully this won't DRAG ON for too long!"_

**"SANS, NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR-"**

_"BWAH!"_ Sans began to kick his legs as a fireball nearly made contact with his skull. He pounded his fists against Papyrus’ back. _"RUN FASTER!"_

Papyrus tried to pick up speed, but his legs began to feel tired. He could tell that if he had lungs, they would be burning, right now. All hope seemed lost until he saw another skeleton walking along the streets. He was a tall, lanky skeleton with a long black robe dragging across the floor. Papyrus began to call out to him. **“D-DAD!”**

The tall skeleton turned around as he heard Papyrus' voice. He looked down at the two children with concern, floating hands appeared beside his skull. (What is it, my child?)

Papyrus hid behind the skeleton as Ricky came closer. The dragon skidded to a halt as the skeleton stared at him, his wonky eye sockets glowing a threatening purple color. "G-g..."

"Hello, child," The skeleton spoke as he smiled his usual crooked smile. "My boys have not been causing any trouble, have they?"

"Um..." Ricky began to tremble, backing away slowly. "N-no, Dr. Gaster sir."

"Oh..." Gaster smiled even wider as a pair of dragon skulls appeared beside him. "Then...You aren't planning on hurting these poor boys...are you?"

Ricky shook his head, he started backing away as Gaster walked closer. His eyes began to flash between purple and yellow. "Because if you are, then...well, I'm sure that I could use another test subject for my lab experiments!"

Ricky backed away slowly, he hardly noticed his knees shaking. When Gaster took another step closer, Ricky ran as far away as he possibly could. The tall skeleton started to cough, as he couldn't talk for long periods of time. Papyrus looked up at his father, confused. **"You don't REALLY use monsters as test subjects, do you?"**

(Heavens no!) Gaster replied, (I was just scaring him off. And besides, I'm usually my own test subject, I have no need to use anyone else!)

_"that's gonna get you killed, one of these days,"_ Sans warned him. Gaster took Sans out of Papyrus' arms and gently nudged his son's skull. A pair of magic hands appeared besides his head.  (Your mother would tell me the same thing, you know).

_"well it's true!"_ Sans argued.

(Well...as a scientist, sometimes I have to make risks.)

Papyrus started pulling at his father's sleeve, Gaster looked down at the impatient young skeleton. **"C'mon, we gotta go home before it's night time!"**

Gaster nodded, one of the floating hands started petting Papyrus' skull. (Forgive me, my child!)

The skeletons started heading back home as Papyrus clinged to his robe. After all, these children needed some rest after that encounter. Luckily for them, their apartment building wasn't too far from the park. The brothers were at least thankful for that.

 

* * *

 

  
After dinner, it was time to settle down. Sans was sprawled across his bed, ready to fall asleep at any moment. Papyrus walked in while his feet across the floor. He sat on the bed and placed a hand on his jaw. Upon seeing his brother like this, Sans sat up from the bed. _"what's wrong?"_

**"Why does Ricky have to be such a jerk?!"** Papyrus asked, bitterly. **“Why can't he and Sclara leave us alone for once?"**

_"well, it’s not like he’s nice to every other monster."_ Sans responded. _“for all i know, he could end up being thrown in jail one day.”_

**“But I don’t want him to be in jail!”** Papyrus complained. **“He wouldn’t be able to survive in there!”**

_"Well, who knows?"_ Sans replied, smirking. _"he might soften up one day, maybe then he'll leave us alone.”_

**“I guess you’re right,** ” Papyrus replied, **“And maybe when he's REALLY nice, he could become friends with us!”**

_"well...don't forget, you still have me!"_ Sans replied.

**"Well I know that,"** Papyrus said happily. He jumped off the bed and embraced his older twin. **"I could never forget about you, Sans!"**

_"aw, pap..."_ Sans began to smile brightly, patting his brother's back. _"and you can't forget about fluffy bunny, either~!"_

**“Of course not!”** Papyrus replied, **“He’ll always be right there whenever I need him!”**

Papyrus let his brother go, Sans started heading over to the bookshelf. _"do ya want me to read you a story?"_

**"Hm..."** Papyrus placed a hand over his jaw as he walked over to the bookshelf. He pointed to the book with a green spine on it. **"How about that one?"**

_"this?"_ Sans pulled the book out, there was a small white dog on the cover.

**"Yes, that's the one."** Papyrus said excitedly.

_"hm..."_ Sans headed over to Papyrus' bed and started laying on it. _"it's kinda long, though, so i might not be able to get through all of it."_

**"That's all right,"** Papyrus said happily, **"Just try to get through the first two chapters if you can. We'll read even more tomorrow"**

_"all right, then."_

Papyrus climbed onto his bed and curled up next to Sans. Since Gaster couldn't talk for long periods of time without coughing (and since Papyrus wasn't very good at reading), it usually fell on Sans to read bedtime stories. Papyrus didn't mind, though. In fact, he enjoyed his brother's company. And Sans didn’t seem to mind, either. Papyrus continued to lay there as his brother began to speak.

_"once upon a time, there was a dog named toby..."_

 


	2. My Family ch. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So unlike the first chapter, this one is VASTLY different from the original chapter. Still, I hope you like it nonetheless.

Papyrus slowly opened his eye sockets, he was still curled up around Sans’ arm. The young skeleton crawled out of bed and stretched. He looked at the clock sitting on his night stand, it was 7:23 in the morning. He looked over at his brother, who was still passed out on the bed. One of his hands was resting on the book. While Sans _did_ try to fit the role as the elder brother (he was older by 12 minutes), he still tired out easily due to his own frailty. And once he was asleep, it was almost impossible to wake him up. In other words, it was best to let a sleeping skeleton lie.

Papyrus got himself dressed, he wore the same striped shirt he had on yesterday. He headed out of the room and checked where his father's room was, there was nobody there. It was safe to assume that Gaster had already gone to Hotland. With that said, Papyrus thought that he should make breakfast. He climbed onto one of the counters and pulled out a box of oatmeal. It was the only thing he knew how to make. Not that he minded, really. Once he was done making it, he put two bowls of oatmeal on the kitchen table. He also pulled out a bottle of honey from the cabinet and poured it onto his oatmeal, he thought that it always tasted better with honey. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve started drinking the honey from the bottle, itself.

Now...what was he going to do, today? Maybe he could go to the park, again? He liked being able to hang out under his favorite tree. But if he DID go there, then there was a good chance that Ricky was there, as well. And if it was one thing that Ricky loved to do, it was to torment him to the point of crying. Maybe he could go to the Spider Bakery, instead?

Of course...he didn’t want to go anywhere without either Sans or Gaster. And since Gaster was working and Sans was still sleeping, the two of them were out of the question.

...But who’s to say that he couldn’t go anywhere without anybody else? Papyrus ran into his bedroom and grabbed Fluffy Bunny. He looked down at Sans, who was still sleeping like a baby. Papyrus lowered his eyelids, he spoke in a quiet tone. **“Lazy bones…”**

The younger skeleton headed out of his room, he looked down at Fluffy Bunny. **“What do you think? Should we get some Spider Donuts?”**

“...”

**“I did, but it’ll probably be cold when Sans wakes up,”** Papyrus began to scowl. **“Sometimes I wonder why I even bother making him breakfast.”**

“...”

**“Then let’s go~!”**

Papyrus began to smile, he carried Fluffy Bunny in one arm as he headed out of the door. Sans won’t even notice that he’s gone.

 

* * *

 

Despite New Home’s massive size, it was easy for Papyrus to navigate through. It wasn’t uncommon to find children walking on their own, especially once they become 7-8 years old. However, every child knew that not every monster is going to be nice. But as long as said child can use magic, they should be fine.

Papyrus walked into the Spider Bakery. In contrast to the dull hues of New Home, everything in the Spider Bakery was some shade of purple. There were cakes, pies, brownies, cookies, and many other desserts lining the counter. Most of them were covered in “sugar”, though Papyrus already knew that it was actually spider dust.

**“So what kind of donuts do you want, Fluffy Bunny?”** Papyrus asked.

“...”

**“What do you mean you’re not hungry?”** Papyrus asked, **“You loves Spider Donuts!”**

“...”

**“How about I just share mine, then? Would that be OK?”**

“...Are you seriously talking to that thing, AGAIN!?” said a rough yet feminine voice that startled Papyrus. When he turned his head, saw a pair of Astigmatisms walking into the bakery. The older of the two looked down at his niece. “Is he your friend?”

“Erm...something like that,” Sclara said, rubbing the back of her head. “Is it all right if I talk to him?”

“Sure," said the older Astigmatism." I mean, it’d probably be better than talking to that dragon kid.”

“OK, then.” Sclara said as she started dragging Papyrus outside. He was scowling at her, his bones were rattling in anticipation. **“W-whatever it is, I’m not-”**

“Relax, I’m not gonna pick on you, this time!” Sclara replied. “It’s just that I hardly see you out here without clinging onto Brittles.”

**“W-well, he’s...um…”** Papyrus tried to think for a moment before he had an answer. **“H-he’s sick.”**

“Really?”

**“Y-yeah,”** Papyrus replied. **“When I woke up, there was vomit everywhere! So for now, he has to stay in bed!”**

“Uh-huh…” Sclara gave Papyrus a mischievous smile. “But I thought that skeletons couldn’t vomit!”

**“Oh…”** Papyrus gave Sclara a blank stare. **“Th-then he woke up sneezing on everything.”**

“Whatever,” Sclara replied with a shrug. “But listen...You know how Dr. Gaster always goes into the Core and checks on it every week?”

**“Yeah, why?”** Papyrus asked.

“Well...because I thought I saw a human go in there with him. I think that they might’ve been carrying a knife!”

**"W-what!?"** Papyrus began to tremble. **“D-don’t be silly, there h-hasn’t been a human d-down here in a LONG time!”**

  
“Heh...either you believe me or you don’t...” Sclara replied as she opened her mouth, revealing her third eye. “But you never know...they say that humans are far stronger than us monsters. So who's to say that your dad will be all right in the end?”

“Sclara!”

Sclara’s uncle came out of the spider bakery with a bag of sweets. “Come on, your aunt’s waitin’!”

“I’ll be right there!” Sclara yelled, she turned back to Papyrus, she gave him the widest grin she could give him. “Just so you know...the next time we meet, there won’t be any mercy!”

Papyrus watched as the Astigmatisms walked off, he had a forlorn look on his face. He looked down at Fluffy Bunny. **“What do you think? Should we go look for Dad?”**

“...”

**“I mean...we’re already out of the apartment...but it wouldn’t hurt to check on Dad, would it?”**

“...”

**“...I thought so!"**

Papyrus began to run through New Home, he held onto Fluffy Bunny with one hand. He knew that he wasn’t allowed at the Core. But if a human really WAS there, and if they WERE trying to kill Gaster, than Papyrus had to find a way to stop them somehow.

 

* * *

 

  
The Core was a huge thermogenerator that stood proudly between Hotland and New Home, it generated electricity for the entire underground. It's creator was none other than Gaster, himself. Because of him, the monsters were able to escape the medieval era. They could use all kinds of technology, such as stoves and televisions.

Papyrus stared at the door in front of him, red lights were blinking around the Core. It looked so huge compared to the apartments of New Home. He clutched onto Fluffy Bunny's paw, he was overwhelmed with dread. **"I just hope that Dad’s all right…”**

The young skeleton began to head inside, he was walking on a long bridge. As he kept walking, he could see the steam coming up from the abyss below him. In the distance, he could see blue and orange lasers. What he failed to realize was that the lasers were coming after him. He ducked so that the lasers wouldn’t hurt him. While the blue lasers didn’t effect him, the orange lasers went through him like a searing-hot knife going through ice. Still...as bad as it hurt, Papyrus didn’t take as much damage as he thought he did. At most, he probably lost 20 out of his 680 HP.

Strangely, there weren’t as many puzzles as Papyrus thought that there would be. From what he heard, the Core was supposed to act as a large puzzle, and the layout would be different each day. Perhaps it was like this so Gaster didn’t have any risk of falling in? As Papyrus headed deeper and deeper into the Core, he stumbled upon two paths. One of them lead to some-sort of force field, one that Papyrus wasn’t able to get through. The other path lead to a puzzle. Unlike the constant lasers outside, Papyrus saw that this puzzle looked more like a video game. There were two rocket ships on the screen: One at the top and one at the bottom. Between the ships were black and grey boxes Papyrus grabbed what looked like some-sort of controller. It had a single joystick and a button on one of the corners. As Papyrus took control of the puzzle, he noticed that he was moving the black boxes. He continued to move them around until there was a gap between the two ships. When he pressed the button, he was able to hit it. A small victory jingle came from the screen and Papyrus jumped in excitement. **“I DID IT! I SOLVED THE PUZZLE!”**

"..."

Papyrus stopped what he was doing and cleared his non-existent throat. He picked Fluffy Bunny off the ground.  **“But, um...we’ve still got to look for dad, of course!”** He walked out of the room and headed into the other path. Thankfully, the force field was gone. But now, three orange lasers were coming after him. If blue lasers wouldn’t hurt him for staying still, then would the orange lasers worked the other way? Papyrus dashed carelessly through the lasers. As he expected, the lasers didn’t hurt him...and while it could’ve been his imagination, he thought that they smelled smelled like oranges.

Papyrus kept moving, it was becoming harder to see. This place was so hot and steamy that his clothes were drenched with sweat, iIt made him uncomfortable. When he looked ahead, he could see his father’s silhouette. Besides him was what he assumed to be the human. Gaster was waving his hands in order to please it, but the human kept coming closer. Without thinking, Papyrus began to run across the bridge. **“DON’T WORRY, DAD! I’LL SAVE YOU!”**

Gaster turned his head. “Papyrus?”

As soon as Papyrus reached the halfway point, the bridge began to collapse. The younger skeleton held onto Fluffy Bunny while trying to outrun the bridge, but it was too late. It fell into the abyss below. Papyrus wasn’t able to feel anything under his legs, and yet he could feel himself being lifted into the air. He looked around in confusion until he was face-to-face with his father. Gaster was scowling so hard that if looks could kill, Papyrus would’ve instantly turned to dust.

(What do you think you’re doing out here?) Gaster asked as magic hands appeared next to his head. Papyrus began to frown, **“So you’re NOT being attacked by humans?”**

(Do you honestly think that I would allow a human to follow me in here?)

“That’s what you did the last two times,” said a voice. Papyrus turned his head, standing besides Gaster was a blue doll-like monster with a white labcoat. Papyrus began to descend as Gaster talked with the scientist. (Well...It’s because I didn’t want them to reach Asgore. As much as I respect the king, I don’t think that what he’s doing is right.)

“Fair enough,” said the doll-like monster.

Papyrus looked at the monsters in confusion, he couldn’t help but tilt his head at them. **“I’m sorry, but what’s going on?”**

Gaster looked down at his son. He couldn’t come up with a response, so he patted his son on the head. _“Gary, could you please tell Copper that I’ll be heading back later than usual? There’s something that I have to right now.”_

“Alright, I gotcha,” Gary replied. He looked at Papyrus and gave him a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, I’m sure your father will take it easy on you.”

Before Papyrus could protest, Gaster grabbed his hand and started to lead him out of the Core. He hoped that Gaster was willing to talk to him about the humans, as well as what Asgore might be doing to them. But humans were bad, weren’t they?

Well...besides the Royal Human, Chara. From what he had heard from older monsters, Chara was a kind human who wanted to free the monsters. Although he had also heard that they died of illness. From what illness, he wasn't certain. 

Still...it wouldn’t hurt to ask his father about the humans, would it?

 

* * *

 

It was almost 9: 50 am, Papyrus was walking besides his father with Fluffy Bunny tucked in his arm. Along the way, Gaster managed to pick up two spider donuts...one for Papyrus, and one for Sans. Papyrus wanted to say something to his father, but he just didn't have the courage to say something. Gaster took notice of this and tapped his son’s skull. Papyrus jumped, he looked up at Gaster.

(Is something bothering you, my child? You haven’t spoken in a while.)

**“Um…”** Papyrus started rubbing his hands together, like monster trying to keep their hands warm. **“About Asgore...Why don’t you want him to collect the human souls?”**

Gaster pondered for a minute, he wanted to explain this the best way that he could for his son. (Well...imagine if the humans were sealed Underground, instead...and they needed the dust of 7 monsters in order to break the barrier. That doesn’t sound very good, does it?)

**“That sounds HORRIBLE!”** Papyrus yelled, **“Why would anybody want to kill us? It’s not like we’ve ever done anything!”**

“Hm…” Gaster tried to think of another metaphor, (OK...Imagine in this alternate universe, Sans was the one who fell into the human-infested underground. And they needed HIS dust in order to break the barrier. How would that make YOU feel?)

Papyrus had a horrified expression on his face. As much as he looked up to Sans, even he knew that the strongest monster could be killed by a single human. If Sans were to fight these humans...well, all he could imagine was his brother being sliced in half by a knife, which would instantly turn him into dust. He felt himself rattling at the thought of his brother dying such a gruesome death. Was this what Asgore is doing to these humans? He didn’t even realize that Gaster had placed a hand over his skull.

(Papyrus, listen...Asgore is doing what he can to free us. And if he had gone to the surface after collecting one soul, there would’ve been a good chance that the humans would kill him like they did Asriel.) Gaster’s smile widened, which would look terrifying to any other child. (That is why I’m going to find a way to break the barrier WITHOUT using these souls! I’ll make sure that you two can see the stars, one day! I’ll make sure that you two can see the sun!)

Papyrus tilted his head. **“OK, but...what are stars? And what’s 'the son'? Do we have another brother on the surface?”**

(No! No! No!) Gaster shook his head, (The stars are like lights that decorate the sky...and the sun is the closest star to our planet).

**“But what’s a sky?”**

Finally, Gaster looked defeated. He looked down at Papyrus with his eyes partially closed. (I’ll...have to find a way to explain all of this to you later.)

Papyrus scowled, why couldn’t his father explain all of this right now? He’s been to the surface, before! He should be able to explain everything!

Maybe he should ask Sans about all of this? He’s the one that sits there reading books from the surface, so maybe he knows something?

 

* * *

 

As Papyrus returned home, he noticed the apartment was very quiet. When he walked into the kitchen, there was a bowl of oatmeal sitting on the table. Of course Sans wasn’t awake, he’d push him off the bed if he wasn’t so fragile. And even then, he’d probably sleep through it.

“Comic Sans?” Gaster said as he walked into the brothers' bedroom. He started shaking Sans’ shoulders. “Wake up, it’s almost noon!”

_“Hmm!”_ Sans nuzzled into his pillow, he refused to move. Gaster gave him an impatient look as he tapped his skull.

_“it’s saturday,”_ Sans whined, _“i can sleep if i wanna!”_

“So you refuse to move…” Gaster asked as his crooked grin widened "Then...you give me no choice!" Seeing such a sadistic smile sent a chill down Papyrus’ spine. He always knew that when Gaster made this face, someone was going to be tortured.

Gaster started to lightly scratch at Sans’ ribs, which caused the younger skeleton to shriek in terror. He scrambled out of the bed until he fell face-first onto the floor. When Gaster looked down, he expected Sans to be crying. Instead, he was laying on his..."stomach" with pitch-black eye sockets.

(Was I too hard?) Gaster asked as he put his hands over his mouth.

_“...NEVER do that again!”_ Sans said as harshly as he possibly could. Papyrus felt a bit of sympathy for his brother as he walked over to him. **“Are you OK?”**

_“yeah...i’m fine,”_ Sans replied as he sat up. _“and besides, i’ve been through worse!”_

(Well, I guess I should be heading back to work,) Gaster said as he stood up, handing the bag of donuts over to his children. (But if you need anything, make sure that you two call me...OK?)

_**“Yes, sir!”** _ the boys said simultaneously. Once Gaster left, Papyrus looked over at his brother. **“So Sans...can I ask you something?”**

Sans shrugged. _“i dunno, can you?”_

**“Brother, please!”** Papyrus yelled. **“It’s just a simple question.”**

_“all right, go ahead.”_

**“Well...I was talking to dad earlier and I gotta ask...what’s a sky?”**

_“why are you asking me?”_ Sans asked, _“couldn’t you ask dad? He’s been to the surface, before!”_

**“I tried, but he didn’t say anything!”** Papyrus said bitterly.

_“well in that case, i’ll tell you as much as i can!”_ Sans walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out one of the largest books that he could find, simply named “Astronomy”. He started turning the pages, which looked like they were warped from being in water. _“Um...it’s kinda wordy, but the sky is like a...kell-est-EE-ul sphere between the Earth and outer space.”_

**“What does that mean,”** Papyrus asked as he walked over to the book.

_“well, it means that there’s like um...a big dome in the sky. see, in the day time, all you can see are these things called “clouds”...and then there’s the sun, which is what the earth revolves around...”_

Papyrus satdownnext to Sans, he held onto Fluffy Bunny as he listened to his brother go on about things such as “plan-ettes”, “kon-stull-AY-shuns, and “ast-ER-oyds”. If Papyrus was being honest, he wasn’t very interested in astronomy. But even then, it was nice to see his brother get excited over something so complicated. He could go on and on about how he wanted to see the stars, and how he’d want to go to space one day. Just seeing Sans like this made Papyrus wish that they could go to the surface soon, so that Sans’ wish could come true.

_“...anyways, that’s all i got for ya.”_

**“What?”** Papyrus snapped out of his own thoughts, he looked at Sans with a blank expression.

_“you weren’t listening to me, were you?”_

**“Yes I was!”** Papyrus argued.

_“ok, then what’s a sky?”_ Sans asked in a challenging tone of voice.

**“Well...um...it’s...like a dome but blue?”** Papyrus asked.

_“eh...close enough,”_ Sans replied as he closed the book. _“why don’t we just play a game instead?”_

**“All right, but I’m picking the game this time!”** Papyrus replied as he started digging into the closet. Meanwhile, Gaster was standing outside of the bedroom door. He felt sorry for these children. If only they could see the stars, they would be able to make all the wishes they could ever want. They would be able to see how the seasons change, how the weather changes, and how the colorful the world is as opposed to New Home, where everything was the same dull shade of grey.

Suddenly, an idea had come to Gaster like a dog to a bone. He could take his kids to Waterfall! While he knew that it wouldn’t be the same as being on the surface, he was sure that his kids would be amazed by it nonetheless.

...Now if only he could find the time to take them there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some small things I want to put down.
> 
> 1\. Apparently, Papyrus has never eaten spaghetti (according the the Undertale Q and A thing Toby did back in September). Instead, Pap's favorite food is oatmeal with Dinosaur eggs. And since you could add anything to oatmeal (such as honey), I'd imagine Papyrus would have a thing for honey as well (Because Underswap)
> 
> 2\. I like the idea that the bros were "opposite" to how they are in the game, with Sans being more optimistic and Papyrus having less self-confidence. But of course...all of that will change at a MUCH later time.
> 
> 3\. I thought that Sclara didn't stand out as much as she should have in the other fanfiction, so I thought that she should have a slightly bigger role that she initially had previously.
> 
> I guess that's it, then. I hope I can finish the next chapter soon (and maybe something more "original...?" even if it's just a oneshot?). But either way, I hope I can get things done!


	3. My family pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus gets a warning from Sclara before heading over to school.

It was Monday morning, Papyrus had woken up right before the alarm went off. He groggily placed a hand of the alarm’s button. He looked over at Sans’ bed, his brother was still sleeping like a baby bones.

**“Sans, let’s go!”** Papyrus said as he shook his brother. Sans let out a hoarse growl as he sat up. _“yeah yeah, i heard ya!”_

Sans let out a yawn (which was one of the few times where he would open his jaw) and started looking for clothes. Papyrus was already ahead of him, he was already wearing his striped shirt and his blue pants. He watched as Sans threw on his oversized sweater. It looked a bit like Sans was wearing a blue and white dress..although Sans prefered to think that it was a robe. His long sleeves were finally starting to tear. And because they were so long, Sans always had to hold his arms over his chest.

Once the brothers were dressed, they grabbed their bags and started heading out of their apartment. Fluffy Bunny was hanging out of Papyrus’ backpack. Sans gave him a look of concern. _“are you sure about leaving your bag open like that?”_

**“Of course,”** Papyrus said plainly, **“it’s not like anybody’s gonna take off with Fluffy Bunny or anything.”**

_“but what about the time ricky took off with him and threw him in the trash?”_

**“Well...that was different because you threw your boots at him.”**

_“heh...yeah,”_ Sans gave his brother a lazy smile. _“then he punched me in the eye!”_

**“Oh yeah…”** Papyrus said quietly. **“I wish I could’ve done something, back then. I mean, he actually could’ve killed you, you know?”**

_“i know, but he didn’t!”_ Sans replied, _“i was only at...um… 0.5 HP? but since then, he hasn’t laid a claw on me.”_

Papyrus nodded. **“Yeah...I guess being fragile DOES have its perks!”**

_“u-um…”_ Sans’ pupils disappeared, _“d-don’t think i’m using it for an excuse or anything! ‘cause believe me, i wouldn’t put it past ricky to kill someone with my condition!”_

**“Well, I’m sure he has SOME dignity,”** Papyrus argued.

_“...no, i don’t think so!”_ Sans replied. _“sclara, maybe! but ricky-”_

“...You’d better watch what you say about Ricky, Brittles! Or i’ll knock your other eye out!”

The skeletons turned their heads, Sclara was standing behind them with her arms crossed. She had a bitter look on her face. Sans started to mimic her expression. _“why are you here, you creep!”_

“Well, because I wanna talk to Rattles,” Sclara replied.

**“Wait, why me?”** Papyrus asked in a worried tone.

“‘Cause unlike Brittles, here, You’re the only one who will listen to me!”

**“Um…”** Papyrus looked at Sans with an apologetic look. **“Y-you go on ahead, I’ll meet up with you, later!”**

_“fine, just don’t be late!”_ Sans replied. He gave Sclara a cold look. _“And if you think about hurting my brother...DON’T! Capiche?”_

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll be fine!”

Sans lingered a bit more before he headed off to school. Once he was out of hearing distance, Sclara finally looked at Papyrus. “Yeesh! It’s like he hates me or something!”

**“That’s because he does,”** Papyrus replied. Sclara replied. “Whatever, it’s not my problem!”

**“So, um...what did you want to talk about?”** Papyrus asked

“Well, Ricky plans on attacking some of the students. It could be you, it could be Brittles, it could be anybody!”

Papyrus raised a non-existent eyebrow. **“OK...But why are you telling me this?”**

“I’m just telling you now before Ricky does anything,” Sclara replied. “And either way, it involves fire crackers!”

**“But-”**

“Oh, and don't tell anyone about this! Not even Ricky!” Sclara exclaimed, “If he asks...you didn’t hear it from me!”

Sclara ran into the direction of the school, Papyrus couldn’t help but frown. He pulled Fluffy Bunny out of his backpack and started talking to him. **“What do you think they’re up to?”**

“...”

**“I know...and knowing Sclara, there’s usually a catch to these things.”**

“...”

**“...You’re right, maybe I worry too much,”** Papyrus replied. He held onto Fluffy Bunny and started heading off to School. **“Come on, we’re gonna be late if we stay here any longer!”**

Still, what Sclara had said bothered him. Was she expecting something in return? Or maybe Ricky is up to something so heinous that she had to warn him the best that she can? Either way, he knew someone was getting hurt in the end.

 

* * *

 

  
Since there wasn’t a lot of room underground, the monsters only had one school...Well, besides college of course! The youngest children (mostly kindergartners) would be at the eastern side while all of the oldest teenagers stayed in the western side of the school. Everyone else stayed in between. There was a point where the queen wanted to have another school built. But since she disappeared without a trace, nobody was able to go through with it.

Since Papyrus was 8, he was in class with other kids that were in his age range. Thankfully, Ricky and Sclara were older kids, so they wouldn’t be in the same class. However, he knew that there was no escape from their torture. Not for himself, or Sans, or any other monster.

It was the beginning of class, and the teacher was starting to call names. Papyrus was sitting in the back of the class with Fluffy Bunny sitting on his desk. The skeleton looked troubled. He wanted to say something, he really did...but he was worried that Sclara would attack him if he told anyone. As he stared at the stuffed rabbit in front of him, the teacher continued to call out names.

“Marmalade?”

“Here!”

“Temmie!”

“hOI!!!”

“Gill Sans?”

~~“Here!”~~

“Comic Sans!”

_“here!”_ Sans said, quietly.

“Papyrus!”

Said skeleton wasn’t paying attention, he continued to stare at his stuffed rabbit.

“Papyrus?”

Sans started shaking his brother. _“hey, bro!”_

**“W-WHAT!?”** Papyrus yelled in a panicked tone. When he looked around, everyone was staring at him. He began to sink into his scarf. **“Um...I was just daydreaming!”**

“,,,All right, then,” The teacher continued to call out names. Sans gave his brother a concerned look. _“are you ok, papyrus? sclara didn’t do anything did she?”_

**“No! No!”** Papyrus said as he shook his head, **“She didn’t tell me anything!”**

_“uh-huh…”_ Sans gave his brother a sly look, his smile almost looked as crooked as Gaster’s, _“so she didn’t tell you ANYTHING?”_

**“No, and she didn’t tell me about how Ricky was going to attack some students.”**

The brothers stared at each other, Papyrus had started to process what he had just said. **“Um...I mean-”**

_“PAP, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING!?”_ Sans yelled, his hands started squeezing his temples.

“HEY!”

The skeletons looked up at the teacher, who looked like she was glaring daggers at the two of them. “One more outburst and you’ll spend the whole day in the cafeteria!”

The brothers spoke simultaneously, _**“Yes, ma’am!”**_

The teacher resumed her lecture, Sans gave Papyrus a harsh look. _“do you know WHO he’s gonna attack?”_

**“Sclara didn’t say WHO she was attacking,”** Papyrus replied. **“But knowing them, they'll probably go after us the moment they see us!”**

_“in that case, we’re gonna have to be careful when lunch comes around,"_ Sans said as he placed a hand on his jaw.

**“And how do you suppose we do that?”** Papyrus asked

_“easy,”_ Sans replied, _“we just hide under the table. that way, ricky can’t see us. and if he can’t see us, he won’t come after us!”_

**“Sans, that’s genius!”**

_“heh…”_ Sans started to look flustered, _“well...what would you do without me, bro?”_

Papyrus lifted Fluffy Bunny by his arms, **“For starters, I’d just keep talking to Fluffy Bunny. And he’s not a very good help AT ALL!”**

“...”

**“Don’t worry, Fluffy Bunny! You’re still my best friend!”**

Sans patted his brother’s back. He wanted to tell his brother that Fluffy Bunny was just a toy, especially since he’s too old to be carrying toys around like this. But as long as Papyrus was happy, then what was the point in ruining it for him? And besides, there were much bigger concerns that needed to be taken care of.

 

* * *

 

Class time had finally passed, it was already lunch time. The school had a large cafeteria that the monsters would migrate to. Lunch was one of the few times that monsters of different age groups would interact with each other. In fact, one would argue that the cafeteria was like a miniature plaza.

As Sans had mentioned, he and Papyrus were hiding under an empty table. While Sans continued to eat his food with no problem, Papyrus was completely grossed out by the gum under the table. The thought of the gum falling into his food was enough to keep him from eating. In fact, just the thought of touching the gum made him feel sick.

...Still, it was better than being out there where Ricky could find them.

Sans had already finished eating, he looked over at Papyrus’ sandwich. _“hey, are you gonna eat that?”_

**“Um...No?”** Papyrus pushed his sandwich away from him. **“You can have it...it’s too oily for me, anyway!”**

_“suit yourself!”_ Sans said as he picked up the sandwich and wolfed it down. _“so is ricky out there?”_

Papyrus peaked his head out from under the table, he was careful not to bump his head against it. When he looked around, there didn’t seem to be any sign of Ricky. All that Papyrus could see was a sea of striped shirts. Suddenly, he saw a familiar orange dragon walking inside the cafeteria. He crawled back and gave Sans a horrified look. **“He’s here…”**

_“well...maybe if we stay quiet, he won’t be able to find us!”_ Sans said as softly as possible. The skeletons watched as Ricky trotted over to a table of dogs. He pulled out a firecracker and lit the fuse using fire magic. He finally threw it at the ground, scaring the dogs at the table. As the dogs yelped, other monsters began to look at Ricky.

“You like that?” Ricky asked as he pulled more firecrackers from his pockets, “Because there’s plenty more where THAT came from!”

Children began to scream as Ricky kept throwing firecrackers. The youngest children in the cafeteria were crying, the oldest children started looking for adults to fix the problem. Meanwhile, Sans and Papyrus were still hiding under the table. While Sans was watching Ricky's every move, Papyrus couldn’t help but feel guilty. What if someone gets hurt and nobody saved them on time? Would he be willing to endanger himself to save someone? He looked down at Fluffy Bunny, **“What should I do?”**

“...”

_“you’re not going out there, are you?”_ Sans asked, horrified. Papyrus looked conflicted. **“Yes…? No…? I don’t know!”**

_“well, i think i’m gonna look for a teacher,”_ Sans replied. _“i need you to stay here while i’m gone, ok?”_

**“Yes, Sans!”**

_“good,”_ Sans replied, _“i’ll be right back!”_

Sans ran out from under the table, he was trying to find his way through the crowd of children. But before he could reach the exit, he was tackled to the ground by a round eye monster, Sclara.

**“See, Ricky? I told ya I’d get Brittles out here, somehow!”**

_“GET OFFA ME, YA CREEP!”_ Sans yelled as he struggled to free himself from Sclara. He stopped as Ricky threw a firecracker near his face. He looked up at the dragon, his breathing had become more shallow. He looked like he was going to have a panic attack.

“Aw, is the little baby gonna cry?” Ricky asked as he raised one of the firecrackers over his head, causing Sans to flinch. Sclara gave Ricky a harsh glare. “Hey, I thought you said that we WEREN’T gonna hurt him!”

“I wasn’t gonna hurt him,” Ricky replied, “I just wanted to scare him a little!”

Papyrus’ bones rattled. Not out of fear, but out of anger. Why would anyone want to torture Sans? He dashed from under the table and tackled Ricky. **“LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!”**

“Or else what?” Ricky asked, smiling. “You can barely use magic!”

**“Yes I can!”** Papyrus said stubbornly, **“Watch this!”**

Papyrus attempted to summon a bone in his hand. However, it was so tiny that it resembled a dog treat. He tried to summon another bone, but it was just as small as the other bone. Ricky, Sclara, and Sans were all staring at him. It was making him uncomfortable.

**“W-wait, I can do this!”** Papyrus yelled, **“I can-”**

Ricky shoved Papyrus onto the ground, he stepped onto his ribs. “Looks like you’re screwed no matter what you do!”

_“GET OFFA HIM!”_ Sans yelled, Ricky ignored him as he pulled out a firecracker. “Rattles has a TON of HP, I’m sure that he can handle this!”

Papyrus closed his eyes tightly, he waited for the inevitable to happen. However, Ricky was knocked back as a spear flew by his head. When the dragon turned around, he could see a fish monster standing on one of the tables. The fish was no older than 12, and yet she stood like a warrior who had gone through many battles.

“You two think that you can just pick on some helpless kids like THAT?” The fish said, angrily, “You disgust me!”

“Like you’re one to talk!” Sclara called out, “At least I wasn’t dumb enough to fight the King!”

“Yeah? Well at least the King’s training me personally to become a member of the Royal Guard!”

Papyrus’ eye sockets lit up upon hearing the fish’s words. She was being trained to be a guards-woman? And by the King himself? No wonder she looked so tough!

Ricky snorted, impatiently. “So whaddaya want, Undyne? Fish food?”

“You’re gonna let those two go!” Undyne said through her teeth, she grabbed Ricky by the shirt. “And if you don’t, I’m throwing you in the TRASH!”

Ricky began to tremble, he faced Sclara with a horrified look. “L-lets go, Sclara...w-we’ve got better things to do th-than to deal with this lunatic!”

“Finally!” Sclara said in relief. As she followed Ricky out of the cafeteria, Sans was finally able to sit up and stretch. _“thanks for savin’ us, lady!”_

“Ah, it’s no big deal,” Undyne replied as she helped Papyrus onto her feet. “I HATE seeing monsters do this, it’s like they were raised by humans or something!”

Papyrus couldn’t help but admire her, especially after having to save them like that. Maybe when she joins the Royal Guard, she could help Papyrus get in, too...That is, if they become friends one day.

“Well...If those guys mess with you, again, just let me know, OK?”

The fish monster ran off before Papyrus could say something. It was cool to see someone who was willing to save him. And if he could just learn how to control his magic, things would be a whole lot easier. He wouldn't have to worry about Ricky anymore, that's for sure.

_“hey, bro?”_

Papyrus turned his head to face Sans, he had a blank expression on his face.

_“why don’t we just get outta here? the teachers’ll probably think it was us that threw fireworks at everyone.”_

**“OK, Sans.”**

Papyrus followed Sans out of the cafeteria. He wondered where the fish had gone. Maybe the next time they see each other, he would be able to thank her properly.

 

* * *

 

After everything had settled down, the skeletons started to head home a few minutes early (with permission from the teacher, of course!) Unfortunately, they had to get extra homework, but it was fine as long as they didn’t have to deal with Ricky. And besides, the class was on puzzles. So for Papyrus, it was a relatively easy class.

On their way back, they managed to run into Gaster. The old skeleton had a weary look on his face.

_“what happened?”_ Sans asked.

( ...I got chewed out by one of my assistants,) Gaster replied bitterly. (It’s a good thing she didn’t have arms, because she would’ve tried to kill me if she did!)

**“So what are you doing here?”** Papyrus asked.

“Well...I know that you’ve wanted to know what a star is-”

_“i know what a star is,”_ Sans replied, _“it’s a ball of gas that lives in space.”_

Gaster nodded. (Well...yes, that IS what a star is...but there is something I want to show you. They’re not stars, but they’re the closest thing to the stars we have down here.)

_“ok,”_ Sans replied, _“so where are they?”_

Gaster grabbed Sans’ hand, then he grabbed Papyrus’ hand. (Follow me!)

Papyrus was suspicious. What was his father doing? And what were these “things” that he was referring to? He looked at Fluffy Bunny reassuringly. Wherever they were going, he knew that it would be different from everything he had seen in New Home. And if that was the case, then everything was going to be all right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough to update this!
> 
> Also Kid!Undyne because reasons!


	4. My family pt. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet Jesus did it take me forever to update this! The bros might be a little OOC in the beginning. But besides that, I like how this turned out.

As the skeletons continued to walk, they began to head towards an Elevator. It was close to the Core, though the elevator lead to the top floor of an apartment building. Papyrus began to scowl, he looked up at his father. **“Why are you taking us to HOTLAND?”**

(Because the place I’m taking you to is PAST Hotland), Gaster replied.

 **“UGH!”** Papyrus whined, **“Then why didn’t you say anything?”**

(Because you wouldn't have followed me if I had said something.)  


_“look, would you stop whining?”_ Sans said, angrily, _“i wanna see what the stars are like!”_

Papyrus opened and closed his jaw as a way to mock his brother. Sans gave him a harsh glare, but he refused to do anything else. It’s not like he would, anyway. Especially with their father around.

The skeletons walked into the elevator. As it started to move, Sans started to stumble like a dog riding in the back of a car. Papyrus gave his brother a smug look, though Sans refused to acknowledge it.

**“You know that there’s gonna be another elevator after this one...right, Sans?”**

_“shut up!”_ Sans replied, though he actually started to look sick. Gaster picked Sans off the ground and started petting the back of his skull. He looked down at Papyrus, hands appeared on both sides of his head.  (You shouldn’t be treating your brother like this!)

 **“He started it!”** Papyrus argued.

 _“I DID NOT!”_ Sans yelled in response. Gaster let out a sigh, he began to speak.  “Stop fighting or I’ll...I’ll feed you two to the Blasters!”

Papyrus huffed, he knew his father wasn’t being serious. But even then, he refused to speak. He wasn't going to get in trouble because of his sibling!

Getting through Hotland wasn’t as bad as Papyrus remembered. Since all they had to do was leave the apartment and go to another elevator. The only one who didn’t like elevators was Sans. He looked so nauseated, he started to drool. Fortunately, skeletons can’t vomit due to a lack of organs. Unfortunately, there wasn't any way to get rid of the sick feeling.

As they reached the end of Hotland, the three skeletons made their way to a river. At the river stood yet another skeleton, they wore a dark blue cloak with a hood over their head. Behind them was a boat, it had the face of a dog carved into it.

 **"Wowie..."** Papyrus said as he ran up to the skeleton with a fixed gaze. **"I didn't know that there were skeletons that lived outside of New Home!"**

“There really aren’t,” the skeleton replied, “though it IS nice to see them once in a while~!”

"Papyrus!"

The young skeleton jumped upon hearing his name called. He looked over at Gaster, who gave him an annoyed expression. "Stay with me!"

"Oh? But he is not harming anyone, Wingdings!" the hooded skeleton replied, placing a hand on Papyrus' skull. "Is he your child?"

(Indeed he is,) Gaster replied, (They’re both my children).

 _“So what’s their name?”_ Sans asked, quietly.

(Their name is Mono,) Gaster replied, (They’re usually here to help monsters get to other areas of the Underground. Although it’s a shame that there is no river in New home...But the good news is that they’'ll able to take us to Waterfall much quicker).

Mono nodded, a pleasant expression came across their face as they knelt down to Papyrus' level. "I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?"

 **"Yes, please."** Papyrus said politely. Mono stood up and guided the trio onto the boat. Afterwards, they sat in the front and patted the dog’s head. The boat stood above the water and started running, deeper and deeper into the river until the walls were barely visible.

‘Tra la la~!” Mono sang in a carefree tone, “It is never too late to save someone, even if it seems like they are beyond saving~!”

Papyrus gave Mono a strange look. What were they talking about? Were they just speaking nonsense? Either way, Papyrus wasn’t sure. He looked up at Gaster, who was still holding Sans close to his chest. Papyrus was tempted to call him a “baby bones”. Not in a threatening way, but in more of a playful sort of way. However, he held back since he thought that his brother would start arguing with him, again. Instead, he leaned against his father, who put a comforting hand around his arm.

The ride had been silent, save for Mono’s humming. The tunnel had remained dark until something had caught Papyrus’ eye socket. There was a glowing blue stone on the wall. As the boat moved forward, more stones were discovered. Some of them formed amazing patterns, Papyrus had thought that one of them resembled a rabbit.

 **“Sans, wake up!”** Papyrus whispered as he nudged Sans. The skeleton let out a deep breath as he woke up. When he opened his eye sockets, he was amazed by the many stones around them. He spoke silently, _“are these...stars?”_

(Not quite,) Gaster replied. (Though as I said, they are the closest things that we have to stars down here).

Finally, the boat began to stop, causing the skeletons to jerk forward. Mono stood up and stepped onto the riverbank, their hands were clasped over their non-existent stomach. “I’ll be right here if you need me. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves.”

(Thank you very much, Mono!) Gaster replied and he came out of the boat. He gestured for his sons to follow him, Sans climbed out first with Papyrus following behind him. The younger skeleton grabbed Fluffy Bunny’s paw and dragged him across the floor.

 _“how long do you that dad’s been hiding this on us?”_ Sans whispered.

 **“I don’t know,”** Papyrus replied, **“but why can’t we live out here? Where everything isn’t grey and boring?”**

 _“I know, right?”_ Sans replied, _“it’s so beautiful out here, i think that we should move out here once we’re old enough to live by ourselves!”_

 **“I agree,”** Papyrus replied. **“Plus, Captain Gerson’s stationed out here, so I could ask him to let me into the Royal Guard!”**

 _“hehe...one thing at a time, pap.”_ Sans said with a small grin, _“one thing at a time.”_

Gaster had stopped walking, he turned around to face his sons. Next to him was a flower. Unlike the golden flowers that were found in New Home, this flower was large and blue. The floral disk was pulsating like a speaker.

(Now...This plant right here is called an “Echo Flower”), Gaster explained, (Whenever you talk to it, it will repeat the last thing it had heard over and over again. In a way, it’s like an organic tape recorder).

Papyrus picked Fluffy Bunny off the ground, he gave the toy a patient smile. **“Who do you think should get to play with it first? Me or Sans?”**

 _“why don’t you go first?”_ Sans asked.

 **“That’s funny, because Fluffy Bunny was thinking the same thing,”** Papyrus replied. Sans snorted, _“of course!”_

Papyrus stepped up the the flower, he took a deep breath before he started talking to the flower.

**"Hello!"**

"...Hello!"

**"I-I am the greatest!"**

"...I am the greatest!"

**"No, I am!"**

"No, I am!"

Gaster watched in amusement as Papyrus played with the Echo Flowers. Watching his son interact with the flower brought joy to his soul. He looked over at Sans, he gave his son a patient smile. (Why don’t you try it, Sans?)

 **“Yeah, Sans! Why don’t you check it out?”** Papyrus asked.

"Yeah, Sans! Why don't you check it out?"

Papyrus gave the flower a harsh glare as it repeated his words. Sans smiled like he usually did, he rested his arms behind his back. _“all right, if you insist!”_

As Sans moved closer to the flowers, Papyrus gave his brother a weary look. He watched as Sans walk up to the Echo Flower. Without a second thought, Sans began to yell as loud as he could.

_"I'M THE LEGENDARY FART MASTER!"_

"...I'M THE LEGENDARY FART MASTER!"

Sans began to laugh after the flower yelled back at him. In turn, the flowers continued to laugh with him. Papyrus gave his brother a dirty look, he began to speak with Fluffy Bunny. **“So THAT’s why he wanted me to go first!”**

“Come along, you two!” Gaster called out, his sons began to follow him once again. Everything in Waterfall looked amazing. Many of the ponds scattered throughout the region glowed a bright blue color, similar to the stones above them. There were many aquatic monsters here; This included sea horses, slime molds, and various fish monsters. There were also a few cat/dog hybrids with weird speech patterns. They were even weirder than a skeleton’s speech pattern, now that Papyrus thought about it.

_“hey, pap?”_

Papyrus turned to face his brother, Sans had stopped walking. He walked over to his brother, **“Is something wrong?”**

 _“nothin’s wrong,”_ Sans replied, _“It’s just...well, you should look at this.”_

Papyrus faced the wall, they were standing in front of a blue and black painting of a boss monster. The monster resembled a goat with a mane, just like King Asgore. But unlike the king, this monster looked barbaric. It had claws at the end of its paws, its eyes looked demonic. The boss monster had its soul exposed. However, its soul resembled a heart, unlike the arrow-head shape that monster souls possessed.

 **“Who do you think this was?”** Papyrus asked.

 _“a monster with a human soul,”_ Sans said as though it were obvious, _“i heard that they’re some of the most powerful beings in the world.”_

**“So they’re like gods?**

_“Pretty much,”_ Sans replied, _“and if this is from a monster grabbing ONE soul, imagine what it would be like if asgore has all seven?”_

A monster with 7 human souls...could a monster even handle this many? Papyrus knew that it could take 7 human souls to break the barrier, but what would happen if these souls got into the wrong hands? What would that mean for the monsters?

“Boys!”

The brothers turned their head, Gaster was standing at the end of the corridor with an impatient look. Sans looked up at the painting once more before he grabbed Papyrus’ hand. _“c’mon, we can’t keep dad waiting.”_

Papyrus nodded as he kept his eye on the Boss Monster painting. He could only hope that Asgore was doing the right thing.

 

* * *

 

After their long walk through Waterfall, the skeletons finally came across a large room filled with sparkling stones. Gaster watched as his sons walked into the room, both of them looked at the stones in bewilderment.

 _“it-it looks just like my books,”_ Sans said quietly.

 **“So THIS is what the stars are like?”** Papyrus asked.

“...Not exactly”

The brothers turned to face Gaster. His expression looked forlorn, which was a rare expression to find on someone like him.

(You see...a long time ago, we would be able to wish upon the stars at night. But after the humans sealed us underground, the closest that we have to the stars are these stones that decorate the ceilings. I wish I could show you what the real stars are like, but these...these will have to suffice for the time being.)

**“But they look so cool,”** Papyrus replied, **“Do the real stars look any better than this?”**

(Of course), Gaster replied. (And I promise that one day, you will get to see them! But for now, you’ll have to make your wishes upon these stones).

 _“so i guess that’s it, then,”_ Sans said as he looked up at the stones. _“hey pap, what do you wish for?”_

 **“i dunno, what do YOU wish for?”** Papyrus asked, suspiciously. Sans let out a half-hearted chuckle. _“If you really wanna know, i’d love to go on the surface and look at the stars. Maybe then, i’d get to see all of the kon-stell-AYE-shuns. And why stop there?”_ Sans asked, enthusiastically, _“maybe i’ll be able to go to space and see the planets for myself. I mean, the humans MUST have discovered space travel, by now!”_

**“Well if you’re gonna be the next Royal Scientist, you should look into it when we get to the surface.”**

_“yeah, i really should,”_ Sans replied. _“So what about you? What do YOU wish for?"  
_

**“Well, I want to become a member of the Royal Guard,”** Papyrus replied. Sans let out a chuckle. _“i know, but don’t you have any other wishes?”_

 **“Well that’s the thing,”** Papyrus replied, **“I DON’’T know what I want, exactly. When I grow up, I wanna be able to protect everyone from the humans. But at the same time, it just sounds silly. I mean, just look at what happened today, I wasn’t able to protect you from-”**

 _“ah, don’t t worry about it,”_ Sans replied as he brought an arm around Papyrus’ neck, _“all it takes is a little practice. And if i can do this,”_ he summoned a large bone twice his size and held it in his hand, _“you should be able to do it, too.”_

 **“Do you really think so?”** Papyrus asked.

 _“i know so,”_ Sans replied, _“And believe me...once you perfect your magic, you’ll be able to protect everyone. And maybe along the way, you’ll make all kinds of friends!”_

 **“R-REALLY?”** Papyrus began to smile as wide as he possibly could. **“In that case, I’ll become the strongest, most powerful monster in the Underground...maybe I’ll be strong enough to defeat a whole army of humans!”**

_“Just keep thinking like that, and you will!”_

**“And you’ll be right there with me, right?”** Papyrus asked as he started squeezing his brother. Sans struggled to breath, he patted his brother’s head. _“y-you know i will. now could you let me go before you break my ribs?”_

 **“Oh...sorry,”** Papyrus said as he released Sans, the elder skeleton kept his arm wrapped around Papyrus.

Gaster smiled, he enjoyed it when his children got along like this. While they would bicker and argue like any pair of siblings, they were still siblings in the end.

“Papyrus! Comic Sans!”

The skeletons turned to face their father, they spoke simultaneously. _ **“Yeah?”**_

(It’s time for us to go home, now.)

_**“Yes, sir!”** _

Sans grabbed Papyrus’ hand as he started following Gaster home. Papyrus felt that it was a shame, since he would have to go back to seeing grey everywhere. But he knew that everything will work out, so long as he practices using his magic. And by the time he’s strong enough, he’ll finally become a member of the royal guard. But for now, he needed to be with Sans. After all, he needed someone to take care of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's hoping that I don't end up on some 3 month hiatus again...All while going back to cool leg.


	5. My Family pt. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So unlike the original, this story arc ended up being a bit longer. But hey, I'm sure we're here to see our favorite characters suffer.

The next day, everything in school had gone back to normal. Of course, Ricky ended up being suspended, along with Sclara. So thankfully, neither of the skeletons had to deal with them...or so they thought.

Papyrus was sitting in class, he was scowling at the paper in front of him. How could he get a “D” in spelling? It wasn’t his fault that the text was too small, In fact, it was a miracle that he could read it at all.

_“did you fail, again?”_ Sans asked, Papyrus shook his head. **“Well...I didn’t fail, exactly. But I could’ve sworn that I spelled everything right!”**

_“then lemme see the paper,”_ Sans replied as he grabbed the paper and read through the words. _“um...you DID spell words right, but they’re not the right words.”_

**“What do you mean?”**

_“well...instead of ‘dog’, you wrote ‘bog’. And instead of ‘hurt’, you wrote ‘heart'.”_

**“UGH!”** Papyrus placed his hands on his face. **“How could I be so stupid?”**

_“hey, it’s not the end of the world,”_ Sans said reassuringly, _“i can help ya out for the next test. does that sound good?”_

**“Yeah...I’d actually like that,”** Papyrus said in relief. **“I’ll be happy if I get anything but a ‘D’!”**

_“even an ‘f’?”_ Sans teased, earning a glare from his brother. **“What’s that supposed to mean?”**

_“I dunno...fart?”_

**“Oh my god,”** Papyrus grumbled. **“Sometimes I don’t even know what to do with you!”**

The brothers began to hear tapping on the window. When they turned around, they saw that someone was throwing pebbles at it. When Papyrus walked up to the window, he could see Sclara outside. She was holding a sign that read “meet me after class.”

**“But why?”** Papyrus asked.

_“pap, maybe you should just ignore her.”_ Sans suggested, Papyrus shook his head. **“No, that’d be rude!”**

_“so you’re just gonna let her push you around?”_

**“I mean...she isn’t with Ricky this time, so I think I’ll be fine.”**

_“heh...it’s your funeral, dude!”_

As soon as class was over, Papyrus made his way outside of the school. As always, he held Fluffy Bunny into his arms. Sclara was standing there with an impatient look on her face. “So that fight with Ricky, yesterday? It was the sorriest excuse for a fight I’ve ever seen!”

**“I know, Ricky didn’t even give me a chance,”** Papyrus replied.

“I wasn’t talking about Ricky,” Sclara replied, “But...if you’re ever gonna fight him again, you’re gonna have to practice fighting.”

**“But why would I wanna fight him again?”**

“Well...What would you do if Ricky had his claws on Brittles?” Sclara asked, “Would you leave your own brother there to suffer?”

**“Of course not,”** Papyrus yelled, Sclara gave him a mischievous smile. “I thought so. Now I know training with Brittles isn’t gonna cut it, since he’s well...brittle, so your only other option is me.”

**“But why?”**

“Enough with the questions,” Sclara said as she grabbed Papyrus’ arm. “Come on, I know a good place where we can practice!”

Papyrus was worried, Sclara was taking him further away from the school. Whatever she was doing couldn’t be good. But if it means improving his magic, then he really didn't have a choice.

 

* * *

 

The children made their way to an alley, where nobody would be able to find them...save for a few stray dogs here and there. Sclara looked around, possibly to make sure that nobody was following then. She turned around and faced the skeleton with an intimidating gaze. "Ready?"

**"...Y-yes?"**

"Good!" Sclara said smiling. Suddenly, their souls began to glow, indicating that they were in a battle. “So...what’s your strongest attack?”

**“U-um…”** Papyrus waved a hand above the ground, a group of small bones left the ground **“this?”**

“Well then…” Sclara sighed. “Just...when you’re fighting, make sure that you’re giving me everything you’ve got!”

**“A-are you sure?”** Papyrus asked, nervously.

“Yes I’m sure,” Sclara replied, “I won’t dodge, and I won’t cheat...just give it everything you got, OK?”

**“Y-yes, ma’am,”** Papyrus replied. He summoned more bones in his hands and tossed them at Sclara, the Astigmatism wasn’t phased at all. “C’mon, Rattles...you can do better than that!”

Papyrus tried to attack her, again But no matter what he did, all he could summon were small bones. Sclara had a bored expression on her face. “Look...I know you can do better than that...and if I have to FORCE it outta you, then so be it!”

**“W-WHA-”** Papyrus had little time to react as Sclara summoned her orbs and threw them at his chest. Papyrus was knocked back by a few feet, he held Fluffy Bunny like his life depended on it. He looked at Sclara with a fearful expression, he waved his hands helplessly, **“W-wait, can’t we talk this out?”**

“You can’t ACT your way outta this one,” Sclara replied as she prepared for her next attack, “Your only option is to FIGHT!”

Papyrus ducked as the orbs made contact with him. Again, he was knocked back by several feet. When he looked at Sclara, she was giving him another impatient look. “Just ‘cause I can’t dodge doesn’t mean that you can’t. Now c’mon, put some backbone into it!”

Sclara was preparing yet another attack,Papyrus rolled away from them clumsily. He summoned more small bones and threw them all at Sclara. The more she attacked, the more tired Papyrus became. He held his hands out and hoped, with every fiber of his being, that he would be able to summon bones that could damage Sclara. But when he opened his eyes, in front of him was a giant goat's skull. He gasped in horror.

**“No! No! No!”** Papyrus pushed the skull away from Sclara, it managed to create a hole in the wall behind her. Sclara stared at the wall, it was actually possible to see the other side of the building.

**“I-’I’m sorry,”** Papyrus said as he started shaking, **“I-I d-didn’t think th-that it-”**

“That...was amazing,” Sclara said, excitedly, “Why couldn’t you do that, before?”

**“Because these things are dangerous,”** Papyrus replied, **“They’re designed to take energy away from humans. In fact...they’re so dangerous that even my brother holds off on summoning them.”**

“So they’re that strong, huh?”

**“Yeah, my dad calls them ‘Blasters’.”** Papyrus said as he backed away from the skull, it disappeared into thin air. **“He usually keeps them at his lab, though they’re too dangerous for either of us to handle. They’re like very destructive dogs.”**

“And what do you think YOU’RE doing?”

Sclara turned around, Ricky was standing in the building with his arms crossed. “Why are you hanging out with HIM? He’s nothin’ but a pathetic excuse for a monster!”

“Shut up,” Sclara grumbled, “I was just fighting with him. Until this skull came outta nowhere and nearly killed him.”

“Heh...so THAT'S why my room got destroyed.” Ricky said as he looked at Papyrus, the young skeleton felt like he was falling apart. "Now...be a good skeleton and hand over the rabbit."

Papyrus' eye sockets widened in horror, **"No!"**

"Why? You destroyed my room, so why can't I have your rabbit?"

**"B-Because he's one of the only friends I've got,"** Papyrus replied. **"I know you're going to kill him, but I won't let that happen!"**

"Seriously, Ricky...He didn't mean to destroy your room!" Sclara replied.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Ricky snapped. He turned his head, "If you won't give me the doll, then fine. I'll just have to take something else."

Papyrus sighed, he felt some tension droop to his shoulders. **"Well...whatever it is, you can have it!"**

"Great, so you don't care what I'm taking at all?"

**"As long as it's not Fluffy Bunny!"** Papyrus said bitterly.

"Awesome, I'm glad that we could agree on something." Ricky said, smiling. He began to walk away without a word. Papyrus let out a sigh of relief. **"Great, I'm glad that's over with."**

"Are you sure?" Sclara asked. "Because I've got a bad feeling about this."

**"I'm sure everything will be fine,"** Papyrus said happily. **"Anyways, I'm gonna go home, now."**

"All right," Sclara replied. "Just...let me know if something bad happens, OK?"

Papyrus let out a long sigh, he started to head home. After this encounter, he just wanted to go to bed. He couldn't wait to go home and eat dinner, he couldn't wait to fall asleep as his brother read one of their favorite books.  And when he woke up, Sans would be right there with him. It was always things like these that kept him going.

 

* * *

 

Papyrus had finally gotten home, he dragged his feet across the floor before sitting on the couch. It looked like Sans wasn't home yet, so Papyrus thought that he would pass the time by reading a book...Except these were one of his father's books, so he could barely read any of it. From looking at some of the pictures, the book looked like it was about a baseball player, a cat, and some ghosts. 

Three hours have passed, Papyrus was pacing around the couch. Sans should be home by now, so why wasn't he back here yet? He couldn't have gotten lost, could he? Or even worse...he could've been turned to dust out there by some stranger. He was about to run out of the apartment when his father walked through the door. Gaster looked down with a perplexed expression.

(What's wrong, my child?)

**"Um...You didn't see Sans while you were on your way back, have you?"**

(...No) Gaster gave Papyrus an odd look. (Did something happen?)

**I don't know,"** Papyrus replied. **"Should we tell someone?"**

Gaster began to frown, he marched off into his bedroom. (I'll tell Asgore about this, immediately).

Papyrus watched as Gaster slammed the door behind him. He wasn't sure about what to do now. If he looked for Sans, he might be attacked by some rogue monsters. He looked at Fluffy Bunny and gave him a worried look. **"Where do you think Sans is?"**

"..."

**"You don't think that this is one of his pranks, do you?"**

"..."

Once again, Papyrus began to tremble. He hoped that wherever Sans was, he was going to be fine. And who knows? Maybe he'll come back before bed time? But no matter how Papyrus would put think, he couldn't help but feel that something was completely off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL GOLLY GEE, I WONDER WHERE SANS COULD BE!?
> 
> Also...the book that Papyrus was reading, I'm hoping that someone gets what I'm referencing.


	6. My Family pt. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans goes missing, Papyrus decides to go and find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there are a couple things I want to mention. First, this story might get cut short. BUT in doing so, I feel like I could turn this into a series. That way I could add a little more the the skelebros' backstory. I also think I could that it could help me focus on either of them a little better if they were separate (because at this point it would seem weird for me to focus on Sans after focusing so much on Papyrus. 
> 
> So without further ado...
> 
> (Also...fair warning, there will be torture in this chapter)

Sans woke up to a dull pain in his skull. He didn't know where he was, the room he was in was a dull orange color. Was he in Hotland? Sans tried to move, but his arms were tied up. He checked on himself. Thankfully, his HP hasn't dropped down to the decimal numbers.

Suddenly, Sans began to hear voices. His soul began to pound in anticipation.

"So remind me again WHY you woke me up this late at night?"

"Well, you remember when Rattles said that I could take anything I wanted?"

"What about it?"

"Just come in and look what I've got."

"UGH fine!"

Sclara walked into the room. As soon as she laid her eyes on Sans, she began to look furious. "WHY IS BRITTLES DOWN HERE!?"

"Because I'm going to break him," Ricky replied. Sclara glared at him even harder. "AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT WITHOUT KILLING HIM!"

"I'll...um..." Ricky tried to think, his tail began to thump the ground."I'll...force him to do ALL of my homework."

"But he's the smart one, I don't think homework's gonna bother him that much."

"Then I'll...feed him to the dogs. Dogs love bones, right?"

"And where are you going to get the dogs?"

_"you know, you're not very good at this torture thing,"_ Sans said bluntly.

"You stay out of this!" Ricky snarled, he turned to face Sclara. "Look...if Rattles wants his brother back, tell him that he'll have to give me that rabbit!"

"So you're doing all of this for a stupid rabbit?"

"Hey, Rattles broke EVERYTHING in my room. It's only fair that I break something of HIS!"

"All right, I'll go tell Rattles about this."

As Sclara left the room, Ricky began to face Sans. He began to grin like a psychopath, "So...just how brittle ARE you?"

 

* * *

 

It was late at night, Papyrus was laying in his bed. with hands over his chest. He couldn't sleep, he was too worried about his brother. He knew that Asgore told the Royal Guard to keep an eye out for him, but that didn't stop Papyrus from worrying. As soon as he heard a knock, he climbed out of bed and headed over to the living room. When he opened the door, he saw Sclara was standing in front of it with her hands clasped together. She had a perplexed look on her face.

**"...W-what are you doing here?"** Papyrus asked. Sclara began to look away, "Well...Did you notice that Brittles is missing?"

**"Yeah, why?"**

"Because Ricky was the one who kidnapped him." Sclara replied. "And if you want him back, you'll have to give him that rabbit."

Papyrus began to frown. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope, he's very adamant about it." Sclara placed a hand onto Papyrus' shoulder. "I know you don't wanna give that thing away. But if you want Brittles back, you'll have to give Ricky the rabbit."

Papyrus wasn't too surprised. Ricky would do anything to hurt them. Papyrus walked into his bedroom and closed the door, he grabbed Fluffy Bunny off of his bed and began speaking to him.

**"What do you think I should do? Should I hand you over to save Sans?"**

"..."

**"W-wait, are you sure about this?"**

"...."

**"I know I can't replace Sans, but what about you?"**

"....."

**"...OK,"** Papyrus said quietly. **"If you're willing to go through with it, then I can't stop you. But just remember, I'll always love you no matter what."**

Papyrus jumped as Sclara knocked on the door. "C'mon, Rattles! We ain't got all night!"

**"I'm coming!"** Papyrus yelled. He grabbed his scarf off the night stand and wrapped it around his neck. He began to follow Sclara out of the apartment. He could only hope that Ricky didn't do anything too harsh to Sans.

 

* * *

 

"UGH! Just STOP,already!"

_"why? are worried that i'll DRAG ON all night?"_

"I mean it, Brittles!"

_"are you ok, ricky? 'cause you look a little HEATED!"_

"JUST. STOP."

It had been at least an hour since Sans had woken up. Since Sclara left, Ricky has tried to find ways to torture Sans. He tried to scare him with spiders and flames, but nothing really worked. Eventually, Sans thought that he would try to torture Ricky. And what better way to do it with than with bad puns?

_"listen, ricky. until you let me go, ulna-ver stop with the jokes."_

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO UNTIL I GET THAT RABBIT!"

_"ah...so that's why you're so JUMPY."_

Ricky began to tremble with rage. His face was so red, that steam was coming out of his ears.

_"careful, we don't want you do EXPLODE or anything."_

"THAT IS IT!" Ricky snapped as he pulled Sans' leg out of his socket. "I don't care HOW brittle you are, I'M GOING TO HURT YOU WEATHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

_"A-and what are you going to do with that?"_ Sans asked in a more worried tone. Ricky didn't say anything, he grabbed both ends of Sans' femur and snapped it in half like a twig.

Sans couldn't help but scream. While the bone wasn't attached to his body, it didn't change that fact that it hurt like hell. Ricky couldn't help but smile, it was obvious that he enjoyed it, he didn't care about how much pain Sans was in. He grabbed onto Sans' tibia next.

"You're not going to tell me any more of those annoying puns, are you?"

_"...No?"_

Ricky checked on Sans' HP, it had dropped down to 0.8. "Great, that means I can keep going THIS!"

Again, Ricky snapped Sans' bone in half. One broken bone was bad enough on its own.Two, on the other hand, was MUCH worse.

"Why are you crying? It's not like it hurts THAT much."

_"YES IT DOES!"_ Sans yelled. _"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I SNAPPED YOUR LEG IN HALF!"_

"Yeah...like that'll ever happen," Ricky replied. He grabbed onto Sans' fibula, he gave the skeleton an evil smirk. "You know...if you scream louder, I'll bet that Rattles could hear you."

_"DON'T!"_

"Don't what?" Ricky teased. "Don't NOT break your bone?"

_"I'm serious, DON'T!"_

"Too bad," Ricky said as he started to bend the fibula. Before it cracked, the duo could hear someone else's voice.

**"Sans?"**

_"DOWN HERE!"_ Sans yelled. Ricky snorted, embers came out of his nose. He dropped the fibula and glared at Sans. "Consder yourself lucky!"

Papyrus walked into the room, he held Fluffy Bunny closely like he normally did. Ricky tilted his head. "Where's Sclara?"

**"S-she's outside waiting for you,"** Papyrus replied. He looked down and noticed the broken bones on the floor. His gaze slowly drifted up to Sans, he could see the pain in his brother's eyes. When he realized what Ricky had done, started to feel the pain in his OWN legs.

**"W-why would you do this?"** Papyrus asked quietly.

"Because he wouldn't stop making those horrible puns," Ricky replied.

**"So you decided to HURT him?"** Papyrus asked bitterly. He began to squeeze Fluffy Bunny, Sans looked at his brother with concern. _"Pap, are you OK?"_

**"You know what? Fine, you can have Fluffy Bunny!"** Papyrus yelled as he threw the rabbit at Ricky's face. **"But please, STOP HURTING SANS!"**

Ricky raised at eyebrow, he picked Fluffy Bunny off of his head. "So you're just gonna GIVE it to me?"

Papyrus ignored Ricky, he began to untie the rope around Sans' arms. After breaking Sans' leg and getting Fluffy Bunny from Papyrus, one would assume that Ricky was satisfied. However, he dropped the rabbit and stomped it into the ground, destroying it in the process. Afterwards, he grabbed Sans' fibula and started bending it again.

Sans started screaming again, which caused Papyrus to recoil in fear. He looked at Ricky with a horrified look. **"I THOUGHT I ASKED YOU TO STOP HURTING HIM!?"**

"Yeah...but I figured that it would be more fun to hurt YOU, instead!"

Ricky threw the fibula at Papyrus, who managed to duck just before it hit him in the face. Before he could react, Papyrus could see his soul glowing.He already knew that Ricky had engaged him into battle, was this what he wanted this whole time?

Papyrus tried to summon the largest bones that he could. Sadly, they came out the size of dog treats. Ricky summoned flames in his hands and threw them at Papyrus. The younger skeleton barely dodged them, he managed to lose nearly half of his HP. What he didn't understand was HOW he could lose so much in one turn.

_"pap, use the blasters!"_ Sans yelled.

**"But what if I kill him?"** Papyrus asked before another fireball flew over his head.

_"th-then...um..."_ Sans tried to think of a solution, but his mind drew a blank. _"i...i don't know."_

Again, Ricky knocked Papyrus back with his fireballs. Already, he was down to 50 of his HP left. What else was he supposed to do? His attacks weren't very strong, and the Blasters were completely out of the question. He looked at Sans, silently begging that he would have a solution. Sadly, Sans couldn't think of anything, it looked like Papyrus was on his own.

The younger skeleton tried to focus. He tried to summon the bones again and threw them at Ricky. As expected, the dragon looked unphased. He began tried to attack again, only to be met with flames.

"Give it up, Rattles!" Ricky said in a harsh tone. "There's no way you'll be able to save him!"

Papyrus was exhausted, he felt sweat coming out of his skull. He couldn't feel his legs, but he didn't want to give up on Sans.

_"c'mon, pap!"_ Sans yelled, _"you can't just-"_

"QUIET!" Ricky yelled as he punched Sans in the back, knocking him onto the floor. Papyrus trembled with rage, he could see that Sans was at his limit. One more hit and he could be turned to dust. He took a deep breath and concentrated on his magic. He began to imagine himself summoning the strongest attack that he could ever create. Suddenly, Papyrus opened his eyes. He practically screamed as large bones began to erupt from the ground in front of him. Not only that, most of the bones came out with a light blue glow. These bones separated himself from Ricky, much like a fence.

**"D-did I just-"** Papyrus looked down at his own hands, did he actually do this himself? He looked at Sans and wondered if he had anything to do with it, but his brother was still tied up, he looked at awestruck as Papyrus did.

"I THOUGHT I HEARD SOMETHING DOWN HERE!" yelled a familiar voice. Shortly after that, two monsters came into the cave, along with Sclara. One of them was Undyne, who was still in her pajamas.

"WHY DID YOU RAT ME OUT!?" Ricky yelled angrily.

Sclara replied with a shrug. "I dunno, why are you hurting these guys for no reason?"

The taller monster stepped over the blue bones and picked Sans off the ground, they turned their head and glared at the dragon. "So YOU'RE the reason why Dr. Gaster's children went missing?"

**"Wait...he knew I was gone?"** Papyrus asked.

"Of course," said a familiar voice. Gaster walked into the cave, his hands were clasped over his chest. He looked down at Ricky, a disgusted look was plastered onto his face.

(As for you, I'm sure your mother would be happy to hear that you've been hurting my children again!)

"But he destroyed my apartment!" Ricky complained.

**"B-But the blaster-"**

Gaster looked down at Papyrus, he raised a non-existent eyebrow. (You've summoned one of my blasters?)

Papyrus looked down at his feet, his hands were behind his back. **"Y-yes...but it was an accident."**

"It really was," Sclara replied, "I was just trying to train him, and this dragon skull came out-"

Gaster raised his hand, he looked down at Ricky. (I've heard enough. I'll see if I can help pay for the damage done to the apartment, but that doesn't excuse what you've been doing to me sons.)

Ricky gave Papyrus a harsh look before Undyne grabbed him by the arm. "Let's go, your mom's waiting outside!"

"And as for you, Papyrus!"

Papyrus jumped as he heard his name being called, **"Y-yes, sir?"**

(I don't want you to practice your magic without my permission. Do I make myself clear?)

**"...Y-yes, sir."** Papyrus looked away in shame. He didn't mean to destroy Ricky's apartment. But even then, he couldn't find it within himself to argue with his father. He grabbed Gaster's hand and followed him outside the cave. He looked back at the guard who carried Sans, they were staying back to pick up his broken leg bones. As bad as everything had turned out, he was at least thankful that Sans was all right now.

 

* * *

 

A week had past since then, Sans was laying down on the couch with his leg in a cast. He was reading a book about constellations that Gaster had given him. Unlike the astronomy textbook, this book was focused more on just constellations. Not only that, it was much easier to read, too.

Papyrus quietly walked into the room. He sat down next to Sans, he was careful not to sit on his leg by mistake.Sans placed the book onto his chest, _"hey, pap. what are up to?"_

**"Um...Nothing?"**

_"sounds fun,"_ Sans teased as he started reading his book again. _"i'm reading something about a scorpion in the sky."_

**"THERE ARE SCORPIONS IN THE SKY!?"**

_"not real ones,"_ Sans replied, _"it'd just a kon-stull-ay-shun"_

**"Oh..."**

_"b-but there are a lot of different animals in here,"_ Sans responded. _"there's a lion, and a crab, and...um..."_

**"I just came out here to see how you were doing,"** Papyrus replied. **"I kn-know this isn't the first time you've broken your leg, but-"**

_"pap, i'm fine!"_ Sans insisted. _"i just can't walk for a few months."_

**"I know. If I had known that Ricky would've hurt you like this, then-"**

_"pap, it's not your fault!"_ Sans replied. _"ricky was just being a jerk like always."_

Papyrus went silent, he looked down at his feet. Sans began to sit up, he barely tapped his brother's shoulder. _"c'mon, pap. we should just forget about all of this, all right? and besides. i'm still here, aren't i?"_

**"But what if Ricky breaks your leg again?"**

_"i'm sure he won't,"_ Sans said optimistically. _"after all, i've got a cool brother that can protect me now."_

**"...Do you really think so?"**

_"of course. i mean, hasn't dad been training you for the past week?"_

**"Well, yeah."** Papyrus raised an arm and allowed a bone to manifest in his hand, this bone was roughly two feet tall. **"He says I've been getting better, too."**

_"that's great!"_ Sans said excitedly. _"maybe if you keep it up, you'll be as strong as him one day!"_

Papyrus' face started to turn red. He could never imagine himself being THAT strong, especially given how long his father has been around. And even if he were to reach his father's age, he doubted he'd ever be as strong as him.

_"hey, pap?"_

**"Yeah?"**

_"could you get me some yogurt or something? i'm getting kinda hungry."_

**"Oh, sure!"** Papyrus stood up and headed over to the kitchen. He doubted that he would ever become as strong as Gaster, but he was strong enough to save Sans. And for now, he was alright with it. After all, he valued Sans more that anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends this part of the story. I'll see what I'll do for the next part. Also, I might make a few one-shots here and there as well.
> 
> Alternatively, I've been running an ask blog called royalscientistwingdings on tumblr, but that one's more Gaster-centric (also...comics aren't really my strong suite. But I can try, can't I?)


End file.
